Cricket chiefs fear they will never be able to stop players being approached by illegal bookmakers to fix games - but has called on them to try to keep the game as clean as possible.

Increased exposure of the county game on television in India has made it a prime target for bookmakers to try to influence the outcome of matches.

But the Professional Cricketer's Association, together with the ICC's anti-corruption unit, are relying on players to turn the temptation down.

"You can never stop people trying to subvert the game," said PCA legal director Ian Smith. "The incentive is always there to make a fast buck. The question is whether we can stop it with players turning them down and reporting it to anticorruption units."

The arrest of Essex duo Danish Kaneria and Mervyn Westfield over match-fixing claims and the allegation of an un-named player that he could 'name his price' to fix a game has brought the subject back into the open.

It has long been a problem in international cricket with Hansie Cronje the obvious example. But it serves as a warning that county cricket is also a target.

England skipper Andrew Strauss said: "If it is happening, it needs to be stamped out straight away.

"We've got a duty as players to make sure if we hear of it, or are approached, that we report it."